This invention relates to an apparatus for copying documents and for previewing documents to be copied.
Often with a conventional electrostatic or xeroxgraphic copier it is desirable to copy only a portion of a document or to arrange multiple documents or portions of documents in a manner different than the arrangement of the original documents. The documents or portions thereof are often assembled loosely and placed under the cover plate of the copier. It is almost impossible to tell exactly how such an assemblage will look when copied without actually making a copy. If it is then found that the assemblage is not as desired, it must be rearranged and another copy produced. This procedure is not only wasteful of paper but also is wasteful of operator time and ties up the copying machine.
Various techniques have been suggested for permitting an operator to view frames of microfilm or other film images before a copy is produced from the film. Examples of such techniques may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,262,557 of Cunningham et al, 3,369,449 of Klauss et al, 3,898,002 of Kinder et al, and other patents cited in connection with U.S. patent application Ser. No. 790,024 of James Dimaria.
It can be seen that none of the foregoing patents addresses the problems set forth above. The fact is that it is quite common to provide viewers for film strips for copying purposes because such film strips are difficult or impossible to view without some mechanical viewing aid. It will thus be appreciated that the necessity of having such viewers for film strips has not suggested any answers to the problem presented with regard to the copying of positive documents on a conventional xerographic or "office" copier.